THARWA BRIDGE

Located 33 kms south of Canberra, Tharwa Bridge spanning the Murrumbidgee
River at Tharwa village, refects the technical, commercial and social
environments of Australia in the 1890s. It is the oldest bridge in Australian
Capital Territory (ACT) and its four central spans are the oldest surviving
samples in the service of the innovative timber truss designed by the Australian
born engineer Percy Allan. Allan utilised test data on Australian hardwood
timbers published in 1893 by Professor Warren of Sydney University which
enabled efficient use of the these timbers in the building of major bridges. Over
100 Allan truss bridges were built in the 35 years following the opening of the
Tharwa Bridge in 1895.

In 1936 the original timber piers were replaced and new approach sections
were built in 1945. In 1994 restoration work was carried out on the trusses in
sympathy with Allan’s original drawings.

Construction of the bridge in 1894/95 followed forty years of political pressure
- over that time agricultural and grazing development had expanded in the
region. The NSW Government railway had been extended to nearby
Michelago in 1887 and there was a pressing need to move sheep and wool
across the Murrumbidgee River and provide access to the south including the
Kiandra goldfields.

In 1980 the National Trust of Australia (ACT) recognised the heritage
significance of the bridge, and it was entered on the Register of the National
Estate in 1983. On the centenary of the opening of the bridge in 1995, the
Institution of Engineers, Australia - now Engineers Australia - recognised the
engineering significance of the structure by awarding it a National Engineering
Marker. The plaque was unveiled by the ACT Chief Minister Kate Carnell
during the centenary celebrations on 27th March 1995.

Following much community agitation over plans to replace the bridge with a
modern structure, the ACT Government decided in 2009 to rebuild the bridge.